The Daily Prophet printed the news everywhere. There were flyers overlapping the wanted posters of Death Eaters and the pamphlets of how to protect yourself during these dark times littered the floors of Diagon Alley. The fear of running into one of these dark witches and wizards had scared off the last few customers for good. The shops that were once getting by were now boarded up from not only the lack of interest, but because of the owners' fear of being killed on sight.

It was sad to see Weasley Wizard Wheezes empty and dark. Even the bright orange exterior looked mouldy with black undertones that burst through the once vibrant and joyful colour. But it would be wrong to have the shop looking any different. After all, the only person left in the Wizarding world that matched You Know Who had been killed and thrown over the edge of the Astronomy tower at Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore had unknowingly been the last piece of hope people had in avoiding another Wizarding war. He had beat Gellert Grindlewald and had suppressed the Dark Lord once before in the Ministry of Magic last year. But with him now gone and set to be buried in the coming months, everyone felt vulnerable and exposed. Hogwarts had been taken over by Death Eaters and students were sent home earlier than usual; their headmaster laying in the middle of the courtyard with his blue eyes staring at the clouded sky one of the main reasons for this. It would only be a matter of time before the Ministry of Magic would be taken by You Know Who, and then it would really be over for all that is good in the Wizarding world.

The only thing left to do now was to stay together. For the Order of the Phoenix, that was vital in order to keep those who were being targeted safe. Harry had seen the betrayal of Severus Snape and had watched Professor Dumbledore die. The Order were amazed that he had been able to get away, but the boy wasn't showing any signs of being relieved or thankful for that fact. Dumbledore had been a strong fatherly figure for him ever since he was introduced to Hogwarts. His reactions of anger and silent, crippling grief were unfortunately normal. But with Dumbledore now gone, he was more exposed than he had ever been.

After packing away the last products and storing them in the backroom, Blair raised her wand to lock the door behind her to keep the remnants of Weasley Wizard Wheezes safe while they're away. Even she felt oddly exposed after Dumbledore's death. She had a somewhat close teacher-student friendship in her sixth year with the Professor when he took over the position as her personal Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and he had also been the one to take her out of Wool's Orphanage and destroy any sense of her existing in the Muggle world. But after that, his presence had been near nonexistent in her life. But this wasn't entirely his doing, as she had been occupied through her last year at Hogwarts with Umbridge being in her face nearly 24/7. She knew that he had been extremely busy during that same year with trying to convince the Ministry that You Know Who was really back. It was strange to think of that time with how things were currently. It was as if the world had done a 180 degree flip. You Know Who was known widely for being back and was feared like he was over sixteen years ago, Dumbledore was no more and everyone clutched to the things they wanted to keep safe in these dark times. To think that Blair's priorities two years ago were her Potions tests and getting to classes on time without George being exceptionally annoying was baffling.

Two pairs of footsteps were heard over the staircase that led down from the flat, making Blair look up to see three trunks floating in the air with the initials F.W, G.W and B.R on them. Levitating the trunks were the twins who had glum looks on their faces from seeing their pride and joy so empty and cold. The shelves and displays had been sealed in the backroom by Blair along with the cash register, leaving only the counter that was lonesome in the room. The decor had been taken down completely with sheets hanging over the windows, keeping once desired onlookers out from looking in.

The trunks were lowered to the ground and landed with soft thuds. Blair tucked her wand into her shoe and met the twins at the end of the stairs, silently waiting for them to say something. They had been devastated to hear Molly's Patronus saying they needed to come back to The Burrow to stay. But she had been right to tell them to return home. Diagon Alley was deserted and would be a meeting point for Death Eaters with Knockturn Alley being nearby. Choosing to stay open and accessible was a foolish idea and would end up with one of them being killed for sure.

"This wasn't how I imagined our first year of being open going," Fred said through a sigh, looking around at the empty shop. He couldn't appear too upset and down about closing the shop. But it was chilling and degrading to see all that he and George had worked for be cleared out and stored into a storage room.

"Nothing about this year was how we thought it would go," George replied with his voice laced with irritation and exhaustion. He was little less talented with hiding his annoyance and heartbreak at having to leave the shop.

Blair switched her gaze between the two and bit her lip. It made her feel bad to leave the flat and shop empty while they were safe at The Burrow; she couldn't imagine how the owners and founders would be feeling. They had put all of their money into this place and now they had to leave it in fear of being sniffed out by followers of You Know Who.

"I'm sure we'll be back here soon, guys," Blair tried to reassure but it was a pathetic attempt in her eyes. However, Fred and George appreciated her optimism for their sake. George, who stood the closest to her, slipped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a small smile.

"You're right. I'm sure this'll be over and we can come back within the year."

---

The Burrow was jam-packed with not only members of the Weasley family, but with Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Blair Rosier and Fleur Delacour. Hermione and Blair were a given, as The Burrow was there second home. But Fleur's appearance was a surprise.

The part-Veela had been staying at a relative's house for wedding preparations, but had been offered to stay at The Burrow by her fiancé; Bill. The eldest of the Weasley children sprung the idea on Molly as Fleur was walking through the door and it had caused the woman to begin scrubbing viciously at a pan in the sink that was already clean from stains. Arthur had taken his wife's place and showed Fleur around the house, smiling merrily to try and make Molly's disappearance nothing to do with her arrival.

"Zhis is very... homey?" Fleur looked to Bill behind her with creased eyebrows and he nodded to her, confirming the word that he described The Burrow as beforehand.

Ginny had been bold enough to roll her eyes and head to her bedroom with Hermione in toe. Fleur had watched them leave and brushed it off with a flick of her silvery ponytail. Despite her uptight aura, Bill followed her around with eyes the shape of hearts. Everyone could tell that he was in deep with Fleur and couldn't be happier to have her in his family home until their wedding. With the date set for the late summer, the two were anxious to be tied and to be bonded for life.

The to-be-wedded couple had sparked some thought in George especially, and it wasn't the idea to go out into the field surrounding The Burrow and bashing his brains in. He had spotted the identical rings on Bill and Fleur's fingers and had heard about the many plans they had set for the date of the wedding. Sitting in the living room and watching Bill show Fleur the vegetable patch that sat just beyond the porch, George started to think about his own relationship with Blair.

"Mum?" he called as he walked into the kitchen where Molly was continuously scrubbing at her spotless pan.

"Yes, dear?" she replied with a glance over her shoulder and smiling at her son. Despite her annoyance, Molly was happy to have her children back at the house like they used to be when they were younger. Times were tough and to have the family cramped in their cluttered house wasn't how they should spend the summer holidays; but the woman couldn't help be overjoyed at knowing everyone was safe at The Burrow.

"You got married when you were pregnant with Bill, right?" he leaned against the counter and looked down at his feet that shuffled against the tiled floor.

"Yes and within four days, he was born!" Molly cheered and finally put the pan down, wiping her hands on a hand towel. "I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember the pain too. He had such a big head."

"Did he really?" George grinned and prepared the teasing that he would do when Bill stands up to say his speech at his wedding.

'I hope you know the bighead that you're marrying, Fleur!'

'You can make a better speech than that, Biggie McBigHead!'

"Why are you asking, dear?" Molly pulled him back into current time. She stared at him with raised eyebrows. Fred and George never asked about her and Arthur's life before they were born and this was certainly an odd question.

"Well I've been thinking..." George's hands suddenly began clammy and his chest felt different. He hadn't realised that he had actually been thinking about doing the same as Bill and Fleur. No wonder he had been walking past Muggle jewellery shops when getting their weekly food shopping and staring at the ring displays. The wedding invitation from Bill and Fleur had been on their fridge at the flat and had been glanced at many times by George unknowingly too.

"What have you been thinking, Georgie?" Molly pushed, noticing his fidgeting hands and shifting eyes. He took a deep breath and looked his mother in the eye, already knowing that she had worked it out before he had.

"I've been thinking about... asking Blair to marry me."

---

Blair was unpacking her trunk in Fred and George's room when Fleur ventured in. The woman had been looking for the bathroom when she saw the back of Blair rummaging through her clothes, making her momentarily change her course to talk to the girl. Fleur knew her as one of the Ravenclaws that some of the Beauxbatons boys were eyeing during the Triwizard tournament, and the girl who was around the many redheads that were seen around every corner at Hogwarts.

"'ello Blair," she greeted and Blair looked over her shoulder, smiling back politely.

"Hello Fleur. You lost?" a chuckle followed at her own joke. Fleur put her dainty hand to her lips and giggled lightly.

"I was trying to find zhe toitlette. But I zhought I should properly talk to you as we are going to be living togezer for a while," Fleur admitted and took a delicate seat on Fred's bed, eyeing the many Quidditch posters that covered the walls. If Fred and George had been in the room, they would be embarrassed at the Veela's judging stare on their childhood posters.

"Oh. I suppose you're right."

Blair sat down on George's bed and shut her trunk. The girls looked to each other and found that they didn't know what to say. Fleur had thought that they'd slip into a girly gossip about things they had in common (the only thing being that they were both in relationships with a Weasley), but it turns out that it wasn't that easy. The two were near opposites; mostly from their appearance. While Fleur wore a pale yellow sun dress and white flats, Blair wore her signature black jeans, shirt and trainers.

"Well this was great!" Blair cheered sarcastically.

"Yes! Very good!" Fleur stood up with a smile and shuffled out the room to head to the bathroom. "We should do zhis again!"

"We should!"

Blair rolled her eyes with a smile as Fleur left the room and returned to unpacking her trunk; happy that she had established a very vague and faint acquaintance with the bride-to-be. She didn't think she'd be asked to be a bridesmaid.